


Sweet Whipsers in the Dark

by MiMyMomo



Series: Not By Blood Doesn't Mean Less Love [3]
Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: Orpheus and Eurydice being great parents, adoption au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22438456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiMyMomo/pseuds/MiMyMomo
Summary: Re-uploaded from TumblrOrpheus and Eurydice comfort their son Miko after a bad dream
Relationships: Eurydice/Orpheus (Hadestown)
Series: Not By Blood Doesn't Mean Less Love [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1540894
Kudos: 12





	Sweet Whipsers in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Re-uploaded from Tumblr

It was dark, eerily dark. They were everywhere- the silhouettes of tall, broken trees, towering high into the starless night sky. The pitch blackness filled the forest space, so dim that Miko struggled to see his limbs at his side, no matter how hard he squinted his eyes. 

The air was cool and damp, biting at his bruised and beaten skin. The sounds of vapid silence rang in his ears, static replacing chatter. Miko took tiny steps forward, not sure of the direction he was going, but knowing he just wanted to get out. Get home. 

Suddenly, there was a snap, a tree branch breaking in the distance. Miko whipped around to where he thought the sound had come from. “Hello~?” he called out into the night. His small voice, barely louder than a whisper, trembling. 

“Miko~”

Miko froze at the sound of his name. A chilling tingle traveled up his spine. Goosebumps popped up on his shivering skin. The voice was impossibly gruff, scratchy, rumbling so loudly it shook Miko to his core. The trees jerked and swooshed, rocks jumped and rattled as the ground quaked, sinking into itself. The sound of something rustling in the leaves drew closer, deafening loud. 

“Miko~”

Miko felt something in his body jolt, kicking him. Nudging him to start running, and run fast. So he did. Miko pushes through the prickly bushes, hands and legs covered stinging bloody scraps. He ducked under sharp, jagged branches. They stemmed out far, reaching for him like long, wrinkled fingers. 

Shadowed, unlit figures lurched forward in dark. Growing closer and closer. Closer. 

As the dark shadows started to fully close in, a sudden blinding beacon of light emerged in the distance, a bright golden hue that touched the far reaches of the forest. As Miko drew closer, two figures began to form in the center of the light. Miko instantly recognized the silhouettes, “Euri! Orphe!” 

Then the light began to fade, retracing back and dimming the forest scenery back to its previous dreary state. Eurydice and Orpheus turned away into the light, their bodies fading into shimmering fractals that Miko couldn’t reach. 

The dark seeped through the trees, materializing into an unknown entity that took hold of Miko, wrapping tightly around his torso, waist, and legs, pulling back farther and farther away from his family. 

“Euri! Orphe! Help me!” The two continued to vanish, leaving Miko behind. He fought harder, twisting and squirming around, unable to break loose. “Euri, Orphe, please! Please help me!”

Then they were gone, the dark fully settled in. “No! Don’t leave me…” Miko cried as the grip on his body grew former, the feeling of a crushing weight being pushed down in his chest. It became too much, too unbearable. 

“Ahh,” Miko flew up in his cot, gasping for air that felt heavier than lead. Fat beads of sweat dripped down his forehead as he gripped his soaking wet sheets. 

Miko jumped from his bed as if it’s sheets burned his skin at the touch. As soon as his feet hit the cold floor, he raced the few feet from his cot over to Orpheus and Eurydice’s bed. Miko stood at the side of their bed, watching their chest roar and fall in their sleep, one up as the other’s went down. Miko tugged at the rustic blanket, prying it back and crawled into the cramped bed next to Orpheus’ side. Little fingers in balled-up fist held firmly to the old off-white nightshirt. 

Orpheus shifted in his sleep at the feeling of extra weight and body heat. He slowly opened his eyes, crusted over with sleep, blinking once, twice, three times and changed positions. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. Even after getting his very own bed, Miko quite often found his way over to slink into Orpheus and Eurydice’s bed in the middle of the night. Their bed was already a dinky, tight squeeze with just the two adults but with Miko, it was beyond cramped and a game of twisting and rearranging to make space for them all. But they made it work. “Miko,” he whispered with a raspy voice, struggling to keep his eyes open and body awake.

“Hi Orphe,” the young boy sniffled, eyes wet and teary.

With that, Orpheus felt himself instantly wake up. “Miko? What’s wrong?” he gently pressed, running his fingers through the boy’s hair in soft, small circles in an attempt to calm him down. Miko just clung even tighter to his arm, head buried in the crook of his elbow.

Orpheus scooped the boy into his arms and swung him over his middle, letting the child lie in between him and his sleepy wife. 

Eurydice immediately moved to make space for the small boy. In her half-sleep daze, wrapped her arms around Miko, hoping to bring him some form of comfort. But instead, Miko proceeded to jump and flinch away from her embrace, tucking into Orpheus’ arm even more. “No,” he cried, warm, salty tears spilled onto Orpheus’ arm. The two parents were now wide awake and alarmed by the boy’s behavior. 

“Miko,” Eurydice startlingly cooed, sitting up slightly. Orpheus followed suit, lifting himself and Miko to rest on the back of the headboard. He swaddled the weeping child in his arms, the thick blanket covering them both. Eurydice scooted over to her husband’s side, and he opened his arms to let join in the huddle.

“Miko, what’s wrong?”

“You left.”

“What?” Orpheus said puzzled. Left? They were right here, they hadn’t gone anywhere. 

Miko rapidly shook his head, “you left and they got me!”

“Who did Miko?” 

“The shadow man…in the forest,” he whispered. 

Eurydice and Orpheus locked eyes, a tinge of worry and concern and other emotions swirled in their pools. “Nightmare?” Eurydice mouthed. 

“Nightmare,” Orpheus assured, mouthing back with a small, sheepish nod. He let Miko cry, wash away and flush out his fears and continued to soothe the anxious boy, hands traveling up and down his shaking back. After a couple minutes, the tears let up, only the sound of a few stray sniffles and whimpers fell from his lips and nose. Orpheus adjusted the child in his lap, turning him so his chest was facing forward. Eurydice reached out and wiped Miko’s eyes, rims red and skin blotchy and tear-stricken. Orpheus used the edge of his shirt to wipe at the boy’s dripping nose. It was gross, but the shirt was old and already soaked with tears and snot, so the sacrifice wasn’t too severe. 

“Miko,” Eurydice said, her voice soft and dreamy, like the sweetest of lullabies. “You know we’d never abandon you like that, right?”

The boy meekly nodded, seemingly not fully believing what was being said. 

Eurydice sighed, not in an annoyed way but despondent, “you had a pretty bad dream huh?” Miko nodded once more. “I’m sorry your dream was so scary, but I have to tell you: me and Orpheus, we will never leave you alone. Not ever, no matter what. We’d go to hell and back for you and nothing will ever change that.”  
Miko sniffled, “but Mister Hermes said you went down there already. You can’t go twice.”

“You think some silly little rule like that would keep us away from you? ” Eurydice questioned in mock shock. 

“Impossible,” Orpheus added confidently. His wife gave a few quick pokes to Miko’s stomach and he giggled, his airy laughs filled the room with light. 

“You wanna try and get some more sleep?” Eurydice asked. 

Miko’s smile vanished, replaced with a look of doubt, “but what if the shadows come back?”

“Then we’ll chase them away,” Eurydice replied, pulling Miko down to lie close to her chest, her heartbeat a soft, repetitive drum. Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum. Orpheus joined them, pulling the blanket up to their chest. Miko’s burrowed close, though even in the dark of their unlit room, they could see his face was still scrunched up in fear. 

Orpheus felt stuck, no spoken words came to his head that would ultimately calm the frightened boy. Then, an idea bloomed in his mind, and Orpheus began to sing. First, it started as a faint hum in the dark of night, slowly growing to add a melody and words. The notes spun around the room, light and entrancing, sweeping away any trace of anxiety and fear. 

Miko’s eyelids grew heavy as he struggled to fight back sleep, tension slipping from his muscles, bones relaxing into jelly. Soon, the feeling became too much and he yawned, closing his eyes and curling into Eurydice’s side, “night mama…papa…” His breathing slowed and evened out. Small snores filling the room. 

Orpheus’ singing ceased and he glanced over to his wife, their faces plastered with dumbfounded glee. Mama and papa. Miko called them mama and papa. Orpheus felt his chest brim with joy, he could cry. Eurydice gave him a sleepy smile, they’d talk about it when the morning sun arose. He bent over and placed a delicate kiss on his wife and Miko’s heads. Soon, the sun would shine, replacing the midnight dark with the warm glow of the new day. Orpheus couldn’t wait to share that time with his wife and son. 

**Author's Note:**

> Follow: @miko-and-companyau on Tumblr for more AU updates  
> Main Tumblr: @mimymomo


End file.
